Interest
Chinese Student Arrested in Japan for Selling 1,300 Fake One Piece Figures
posted on by Egan Loo
Police arrested a 21-year-old Chinese technical school student in Chiba on suspicion of violating Japan's Copyright Law by possessing replica One Piece figures with the intent to sell. According to the police at Tokyo's Akabane station, the suspect stocked the figures from China and then sold them in online auctions.
The suspect allegedly already sold about 1,300 figures for 5 million yen (about US$60,000) from February 2011 to July 2012. The suspect reportedly admitted, "I knew that they were fakes, but I did it to make a living."
The suspect was specifically charged for possessing 85 figures of Nami, Zoro, and other One Piece characters in his home on July 18, with the intent to sell them online without the permission of the copyright holders.
In June, Chiba police arrested an 25-year-old unemployed male Chinese national for allegedly selling unauthorized figures from China for 1.8 million yen (US$23,000). Earlier that month, a Japanese couple was arrested in Nara Prefecture for allegedly selling unauthorized One Piece figures for a total profit of about 800,000 yen (about US$10,000). In May, a 33-year-old Japanese man was also arrested in Chiba Prefecture for selling unauthorized figures of female One Piece characters for approximately 40,000 yen (about US$506) total.
